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List Price: $59.99 | | Label: HBO
Salesrank: 1611
Released: March 24, 2009 |
| Our Price: $30.95 |
| Used Price: $26.98 |
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MPAA Rating: Unrated
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
HBO premieres the first of 43 episodes of In Treatment, a new half-hour drama series starring Gabriel Byrne, and adapted from an enormously popular Israeli series created by Hagai Levi (one of HBOs executive producers, along with Rodrigo Garcia, Steve Levinson and Mark Wahlberg). Set within the intimate confines of individual psychotherapy sessions with five sets of patients, the series centers around Paul (Byrne), a therapist who exhibits an insightful, confident demeanor when treating his patients, but displays a crippling insecurity while counseled by his own therapist, Gina (Dianne Wiest). Patients undergoing treatment with Paul include a young doctor (Melissa George) who has fallen in love with Paul, a Navy pilot (Blair Underwood) reevaluating his life after a failed mission in Iraq, a teenage gymnast (Mia Wasikowska) with suicidal tendencies, and a sexually passionate couple (Josh Charles and Embeth Davidtz) who are troubled in all other areas of their lives. In addition, Pauls wife Kate (Michelle Forbes) will be featured prominently this season.
Description of In Treatment: The Complete First Season:
HBO's first half-hour drama gives new meaning to the term, "appointment television." Adapted from a popular and award-winning Israeli series, In Treatment in its first season aired five nights a week for nine weeks beginning in January 2008. Each episode eavesdrops on a weekly therapist-patient session. "The magic happens"—as one observer sarcastically remarks—in the home office of Paul Weston (Gabriel Byrne in his Golden Globe Award-winning role). Monday's patient is Laura (Melissa George), a doctor who reveals in a harrowing "about last night" monologue in the first episode that she is in love with Paul ("You've become the center of my life"). Tuesdays bring Alex (Blair Underwood), a cocky fighter pilot whose last mission over Iraq went horrifyingly awry, earning him the media tag, "The Madrassa Murderer." Wednesday's child, Sophie (Mia Wasikowska in a breakout performance) is a teenage Olympic hopeful in need of an evaluation following a near-fatal bicycle "accident." On Thursdays, Paul meets with Amy (Embeth Davidtz) and Jake (Josh Charles), whose rocky marriage is further shaken as they wrestle over whether or not she should get an abortion. Fearing he is "losing patience with my patients," Paul turns to his former mentor, Gina (Dianne Wiest in an Emmy-winning performance), with whom he had a falling out years before, to talk out his own troubles. The therapist whose own personal life is unraveling could have either been bad sitcom or static and stagey talking heads. But with its insightful writing, powerful performances, and deft, unobtrusive direction, In Treatment avoids the pitfalls to become an intensely gripping drama. Each episode thrives on what Laura calls "the back and forth stuff," the soul-searching and the questioning that strip away the defenses of each damaged character, including Paul himself, who has his own demons to confront as he becomes further estranged from his neglected and resentful wife, Kate (Michelle Forbes), and grapples with his feelings for Laura. This series is something of a career breakthrough for Byrne, a celebrated character actor (Miller's Crossing, The Usual Suspects). As the rumpled and weary Paul, he is more compelling just sitting and listening than many actors are in action. Quality programs for adults that deal with the human condition are at a premium on television. For anyone whose psyche has been scarred by so-called reality TV, In Treatment is excellent therapy. --Donald Liebenson
In Treatment: The Complete First Season Reviews:
In Treatment 
2009-11-11 - I'm very happy to have received this because I cannot watch the programme here in the UK. It's nicely boxed and I look forward to also being able to order Season Two.
occasionally gripping -- but it can get tiring 
2009-11-04 - This series, translated from an Israeli prototype, takes us to the heart of psychotherapy. It stars Gabriel Byrne as Paul Weston, a somewhat rumpled and worn-out therapist, and six patients. Each 25-minute episode is a real-time view of a therapy session.
The first patient is Laura, a sexy doctor about to split with her boyfriend who reveals in the first episode that she's in love with Paul. Next comes Alex, an African-American ace fighter pilot who accidentally killed 25 children in a school in Iraq. The most gripping patient is Sophie played wonderfully by Mia Wasikowska. She's a 15-year-old Olympic gymnast whose life has gone off the rails with a suicide attempt. Fourth are Amy and Jake, a couple whose marriage is falling apart. Finally, in the fifth episode, Weston seeks guidance and spars with Gina (Dianne Wiest), a former mentor with whom he has clashed in the past.
We meet each of these characters nine times during the course of the season. Other peripheral characters -- Paul's unfaithful wife and kids, Sophie's mom -- occasionally drift into the action but basically we're stuck in Paul's cluttered office watching him fiddle with his glasses as his patients pour out their troubles.
Occasionally, the translation from the Israeli-version strikes a false note. One anecdote is clearly drawn from the Holocaust. Transfering it to the South in the 1940s doesn't work. In another reference, one of the characters recalls the aroma of cakes baking on a Friday afternoon suffusing the apartment building of her youth. Yes, that happens in Israel on sabbath eve but not in America.
At the end of this series, we learn that Paul is at least as screwed up as his patients and that psychotherapy often doesn't work. Only one of the patients makes real progress toward a recovery. The others either stew in their juices or get worse -- in one case much worse.
Still, it's fascinating viewing, well-written and acted.
Therapy viewed from the inside
2009-10-30 - Great series. If you ever had to deal with a shrink you will adore it. You see both sides: patient and therapist, same problems, same questioning. You see from the inside how therapy works and you discover that therapists are only humans.... It's a therapy in itself!!! Gabriel Byrne and the others are amazingly good.
Waiting for Season 2!
2009-10-24 - I had heard of this program but do not subscribe to HBO, so I bought the series on Amazon (I have a psych background so I was really curious). My husband and I took it to the beach and watched five half hour sessions (2 1/2 hours) each night! We could hardly wait to see what would happen to the patients (and therapist), so we watched the entire season over the course of our trip! It was great to be able to buy it and watch it as we chose, not having to wait from week to week. Obviously, we really enjoyed it and are anxiously awaiting the release of Seson 2.
In Treatment (review)
2009-10-12 - Great series - can't wait for the second and third! Came highly recommended from a colleague and I wasn't dissapointed - will appeal to anyone who thinks that (a) being a therapist is easy and (b)wants to entertained as a genuine adult. Not idealized or mythologized, Gabriel Byrne's non-specific psychodynamic approach encounters real-world challenges in the form of diabolical patients and his own crumbling marriage. After four sessions with the same clients each week we see 'Paul' in supervision trying to come to grips with his own unconscious and counter-transference. Very true to life, clearly well scripted and researched, In Treatment is a rare treat in this modern world of managed health care and the dreaded cognitive behavioural paradigm of intervention.
